NYPD Faces Backlash After Capturing Brooklyn Serial Killer After Three Confirmed Murders

The New York City Police Department is facing harsh criticism following the capture of Brooklyn serial killer Kevin Gavin. The 66-year-old was arrested for the murders of three women at NYCHA’s Carter Woodson senior housing development in Brownsville.

The murders of Gavin’s victims spanned from 2015 to last week and took place in each of the victims’ apartments, ABC News reports.

Gavin was initially a suspect in the investigation into the homicide of the second victim. However, the NYPD didn’t connect him to all of the cases until the murder of the third victim on Jan. 15.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez believes Gavin’s arrest “will have a profound impact on public safety in Brooklyn.”

However, during a Thursday press briefing, Councilwoman Inez Barron stood with the families of the victims and called out the NYPD for failing to protect residents after the first murder in 2015.

“We’re calling on the city, state, and national resources to look into all of these murders, homicides, that were here,” Barron said.

“This has been a string of deaths that have occurred in a senior development, and we’re saying the NYPD has been negligent ... and not put resources into solving these crimes in a timely manner.”

Gavin, who has been described as a handyman around the complex, faces three counts of second-degree murder charges, CBS New York reports.

In court documents, Gavin allegedly confessed to pushing Myrtle McKenny, 82, who died of a puncture to the neck in 2015, into a table with a steak knife on it.

Along with admitting to choking Jacolia James, 83, and stomping on her neck in 2019, Gavin also confessed to the murder of Juanita Cabarello, who he allegedly strangled with a telephone cord.

In the past, Gavin was known to run errands for the elderly tenants and police believe he murdered his victims over disputes about money.